From Tony Veneziano, image courtesy of Rich Edwards
Pevely, MO — Joey Saldana has earned some hard fought wins over the years, but his victory on Saturday night at I-55 Raceway, was one of the toughest and most demanding of his career, as he raced for the third time since having 10 screws and a plate inserted into his broken left hand. He lined up 13th at the high-banked 1/3-mile bullring before a huge crowd and took the lead on a double file restart with just five laps remaining.
It was Saldana’s second consecutive win at I-55 Raceway and his third career at the track with the World of Outlaws. He now has three A-Feature wins this season and is currently second in points, just 17 markers behind current leader Jason Meyers, as each chases their first World of Outlaws title. Along with winning, Saldana also earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars during the A-Feature.
“That was a great race car and a great race,” said Saldana. “The entire team put in an amazing effort. I don’t know what to say. I’m glad to be in Victory Lane.”
Saldana took the lead on a lap-36 double file restart as he lined up on the low side of the track after leader Craig Dollansky chose the high side. One final restarted awaited Saldana on the next lap, which saw him choose the low line for that restart aboard the Budweiser Maxim, making him the only driver all night that chose to restart down low on a double file restart of which there were a total of four.
“It was really tough running the cushion and I didn’t want to wear myself out,” Saldana noted. “The car was working very good on the bottom and I just wanted to stick with it.”
He was victorious last season at I-55 Raceway in the inaugural Ironman 55 which returns again in 2010 on August 6-7. Saldana and his Kasey Kahne Racing team look to use some of what worked on Saturday night when they return for the Ironman in the heat of the summer.
“We’re definitely always trying things and learning new things, so hopefully it does help when we come back here in August,” he stated. “The Ironman was a great event last year and I’m really looking forward to it again this year. I always enjoy racing at I-55. Everyone here does a great job.”
Craig Dollansky led the opening lap of the race on Saturday night and wound up leading 10 circuits en route to a runner-up finish aboard the Big Game Treestands Maxim. He started on the outside of the front row and took the lead from Jac Haudenschild exiting the fourth turn on the first lap.
Haudenschild battled back on the second lap and retook the top spot. Dollansky used a strong restart on the 27th lap on the low side of the high-banked bullring, to take the lead again, after Haudenschild who was leading chose the high side. Haudenschild went very high in turn two, brushing the wall and falling back to fourth.
Dollansky continued to lead when the caution flew on the 36th lap. He restarted on the high side of the track and shot to a lead, when another caution flew. Since the second caution was for a spin and not an accident, another double file restart was in order. On that restart, Saldana took the lead, as Dollansky nearly got into the wall in turn two. He had Jac Haudenschild and Jason Sides battle him late in the going, but held on for second.
“Those last five laps, we were running out of fuel, so we were fortunate to get a good finish tonight,” shared Dollansky. “We had a good race car and were good through the middle stages of the race. It came down to lane choice there and Joey (Saldana) got a good restart.”
Dollansky, who has finished first or second in each of his last three starts at I-55 was quick to compliment the track crew, who re-worked the entire surface following the dash and provided a multi-grooved track for the main event, which saw three drivers that started outside of the Top-10 finish among the Top-Five, including Saldana who won.
“This is one of the best race tracks in the country and it takes a lot of track preparation,” shared Dollansky. “These guys put in a lot of work. My hat’s off to Ray (Marlar) and Kenny Schrader and all the fans that come out here. It’s always great to see the fans in this area and you get some of the best racing in the country when they go out and work the track like tonight.”
Jason Sides came all the way from 15th to finish third in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim. He used the low side of the track in the late going to pass a number of cars to earn his third consecutive Top-Five finish at the track.
“The track was really good for us,” shared Sides. “When you have a top and a bottom like that it makes for some great racing. We’ve been plugging away on this old car here and it’s been running good.”
Sides used four strong double file restarts over the course of the 40-lap contest on his way to the front. He lined up on the outside three times and on inside on the final restart. He started the main event in the 15th spot and actually fell back to 17th on the first lap before beginning his march to the front. He worked his way into the Top-10 on the 18th go-around and was in the Top-Five on lap-27.
“I think it did help,” said Sides when asked about the double file restarts. “Anytime it’s a good wide track like that and you can see the leader and turn down like that is good. It seems like it helped and played in our favor.”
Jac Haudenschild, who started on the pole and led 25 laps after scoring his first win of the season on Friday night, wound up fourth in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass XXX.
Steve Kinser worked his way from the 14th starting spot to finish fifth in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim, with his teammate Donny Schatz coming from 11th to sixth aboard the Armor All/STP J&J.
Jason Meyers finished seventh in the GLR Investments KPC and remains the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in each and every race in 2010. He continues to lead the World of Outlaws championship standings as he chases his first title.
Tim Kaeding was eighth in the DTR Transport KPC, with Chad Kemenah ninth piloting the Golden Flavor Sesame Sticks Maxim. Brian Brown rounded out the Top-10 aboard the FVP Maxim.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Saturday, April 24 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana.
I-55 RACEWAY NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Paul McMahan paced the 37 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked 1/3-mile oval at 10.440 seconds at 114.828 mph. For his qualifying effort, McMahan earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Sammy Swindell (4), Donny Schatz (3), Kraig Kinser (2) and Joey Saldana (1).
•I-55 RACEWAY QUALIFYING WINNERS: Jason Meyers, Craig Dollansky, Jac Haudenschild and Tim Kaeding won heat races. Jac Haudenschild won the dash. Chad Kemenah won the B-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 12 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway and Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway), Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway and I-55 Raceway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park) and Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park).
•1/3-MILE WINNERS: I-55 Raceway is a high-banked 1/3-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced three times on a track that size this season. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway and I-55 Raceway) and Jason Meyers (Thunderbowl Raceway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; I-55 Raceway; Pevely, MO; April 17, 2010
Qualifying
1) 91-Paul McMahan 10.440
2) 24-Sammy Swindell 10.441
3) 15-Donny Schatz 10.463
4) 11K-Kraig Kinser 10.485
5) 9-Joey Saldana 10.493
6) 6-Danny Lasoski 10.517
7) 7S-Jason Sides 10.521
8) 57-Shane Stewart 10.524
9) 14-Jason Meyers 10.585
10) 7-Craig Dollansky 10.611
11) R19-Jac Haudenschild 10.625
12) 83-Tim Kaeding 10.628
13) 63-Chad Kemenah 10.635
14) 21-Brian Brown 10.636
15) 11-Steve Kinser 10.647
16) 1X-Randy Hannagan 10.667
17) 49-Brad Sweet 10.672
18) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 10.693
19) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 10.747
20) 2B-Ben Gregg 10.754
21) 83X-Tim Shaffer 10.758
22) 22-Brian Ellenberger 10.783
23) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 10.807
24) 6R-Bill Rose 10.875
25) 12X-Jared Ridge 10.901
26) 14Z-Jessica Zemken 10.925
27) 28-Brian Paulus 10.994
28) 4K-Kody Kinser 11.002
29) 13-Mark Dobmeier 11.161
30) 92-Daron Clayton 11.193
31) 4X-Toni Lutar 11.239
32) 1XL-Matt Linder 11.295
33) 44-A J Bruns 11.323
34) 57D-Tom Dickerman 11.518
35) 35-Jimmy Hurley 11.779
36) 2K-Ryan Kempin 12.011
37) 10S-Jeremy Standridge 12.519
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 14-Jason Meyers[2]
2) 49-Brad Sweet[5]
3) 91-Paul McMahan[4]
4) 83X-Tim Shaffer[6]
5) 9-Joey Saldana[3]
6) 63-Chad Kemenah[1]
7) 13-Mark Dobmeier[8]
8) 12X-Jared Ridge[7]
9) 44-A J Bruns[9]
10) 10S-Jeremy Standridge[10]
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 7-Craig Dollansky[2]
2) 21-Brian Brown[1]
3) 24-Sammy Swindell[4]
4) 6-Danny Lasoski[3]
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5]
6) 22-Brian Ellenberger[6]
7) 92-Daron Clayton[8]
8) 14Z-Jessica Zemken[7]
9) 57D-Tom Dickerman[9]
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2]
2) 11-Steve Kinser[1]
3) 7S-Jason Sides[3]
4) 15-Donny Schatz[4]
5) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[6]
6) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[5]
7) 4X-Toni Lutar[8]
8) 28-Brian Paulus[7]
9) 35-Jimmy Hurley[9]
Heat 4 (10 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 83-Tim Kaeding[2]
2) 1X-Randy Hannagan[1]
3) 11K-Kraig Kinser[4]
4) 57-Shane Stewart[3]
5) 6R-Bill Rose[6]
6) 2B-Ben Gregg[5]
7) 4K-Kody Kinser[7]
8) 2K-Ryan Kempin[9]
9) 1XL-Matt Linder[8]
Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2]
2) 83-Tim Kaeding[1]
3) 7-Craig Dollansky[3]
4) 24-Sammy Swindell[5]
5) 14-Jason Meyers[4]
6) 91-Paul McMahan[6]
7) 21-Brian Brown[7]
8) 49-Brad Sweet[10]
9) 11-Steve Kinser[8]
10) 1X-Randy Hannagan[9]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 63-Chad Kemenah[1]
2) 18-Tony Bruce Jr[2]
3) 2B-Ben Gregg[3]
4) 22-Brian Ellenberger[4]
5) 13-Mark Dobmeier[9] [$200]
6) 12X-Jared Ridge[5] [$180]
7) 4X-Toni Lutar[11] [$175]
8) 14Z-Jessica Zemken[6] [$160]
9) 4K-Kody Kinser[8] [$150]
10) 28-Brian Paulus[7] [$150]
11) 92-Daron Clayton[10] [$150]
12) 35-Jimmy Hurley[15] [$150]
13) 44-A J Bruns[13] [$150]
14) 57D-Tom Dickerman[14] [$150]
15) 10S-Jeremy Standridge[17] [$150]
16) 1XL-Matt Linder[12] [$150]
17) 2K-Ryan Kempin[16] [$150]
A-main (40 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 9-Joey Saldana[13] [$10,000]
2) 7-Craig Dollansky[3] [$5,500]
3) 7S-Jason Sides[15] [$3,200]
4) R19-Jac Haudenschild[1] [$2,800]
5) 11-Steve Kinser[9] [$2,500]
6) 15-Donny Schatz[11] [$2,300]
7) 14-Jason Meyers[5] [$2,200]
8) 83-Tim Kaeding[2] [$2,100]
9) 63-Chad Kemenah[17] [$2,050]
10) 21-Brian Brown[7] [$2,000]
11) 49-Brad Sweet[8] [$1,500]
12) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[18] [$1,200]
13) 83X-Tim Shaffer[21] [$1,100]
14) 22-Brian Ellenberger[22] [$1,050]
15) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[23] [$1,000]
16) 6-Danny Lasoski[14] [$900]
17) 24-Sammy Swindell[4] [$800]
18) 11K-Kraig Kinser[12] [$800]
19) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[19] [$800]
20) 91-Paul McMahan[6] [$800]
21) 2B-Ben Gregg[20] [$800]
22) 1X-Randy Hannagan[10] [$800]
23) 57-Shane Stewart[16] [$800]
24) 6R-Bill Rose[24] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Craig Dollansky 1, 27-35; Jac Haudenschild 2-26; Joey Saldana 36-40
KSE Hard Charger Award: Joey Saldana
Chizmark Larson Hard Luck Award: Danny Lasoski
Penske Power Position Award: Ben Gregg
World of Outlaws Championship Standings through April 17
1. Jason Meyers 1722
2. Joey Saldana 1705 -17
3. Steve Kinser 1692 -30
4. Donny Schatz 1655 -67
5. Jason Sides 1631 -91
6. Danny Lasoski 1579 -143
7. Kraig Kinser 1553 -169
8. Jac Haudeschild 1542 -180
9. Paul McMahan 1515 -207
10. Tim Kaeding 1487 -235
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Chizmark & Larson Insurance, Goodyear Tires (Official Tire), SuperClean (Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, Jake’s Custom Golf Carts, KSE Race Products, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo; Engine Builder’s Challenge participants Don Ott Racing Engines, Kistler Engines, Shaver Specialties and Speedway Engines; and Chassis Builder’s Challenge participants J&J Auto Racing, Maxim Racing and XXX Race Company.